Prayers of the People, E+5C

Faithful God,
we bow before you in gratitude and praise,
thankful for your activity in our lives
and for your steadfast love.
Be present, we pray,
with those whose souls are weary.
Strengthen them and give them hope
as they look toward the future you have promised:
a future with light
and liberty
and joy
and wholeness
and abundant life.

Be present, Sovereign God,
with the leaders of nations
and give them wisdom and discernment.
Humble the proud, we pray,
and lead them to new understanding.
Transform their hearts
that the praises they sing
are genuine, 
and the laws they enact
are merciful,
and the purse they control
is stewarded responsibly 
and compassionately
with kindness toward your peoples
all over the earth.

Walk with those who walk
in the midst of trouble:
in violence
or illness
or poverty,
in distress
or fear
or loneliness,
in shame
or estrangement
or persecution.
Protect them, we pray,
and cover them with your right hand
that all who seek them harm
might be deterred.

Lord, in your infinite mercy,
hear our prayers for those
who are downtrodden,
downsized,
and downhearted.
Send your Church 
to be your hands and feet and heart
in a broken world.
Send your Church
to proclaim Good News
through word and deed.
Send your Church 
to be agents of justice
where injustice reigns,
so that all who call upon the name
of another god
may see your steadfast love and faithfulness
and be renewed.